Caroline Ronald
The Highlands
Caroline Ronald was brought up in the hospitality trade and spent all her holidays on the family croft in Skye. She was a partner in a hill farming enterprise for 35 years in Argyll. Her agritourism journey began with farmhouse Bed and Breakfast and progressed to opening one of the first farm shops in Scotland in 1995. The business expanded into Outside Catering, Catering Franchises, Farmers Markets, Onsite Butchery, supplying local shops with meat and an Online Shop. When the farm’s tenancy reduced to an annual lease it was not viable to carry on farming and so Caroline went full circle, back into hospitality and now owns and manages The Royal Oak Hotel, Cullen.
Caroline and partner, Archie, we keep Dexter Cattle, Red Deer, Pygmy Goats and Soay Sheep along with a commercial Apiary at Glenmor, Invergarry, supplying the hotel with as much produce from the farm as possible. Caroline also owns a self-catered cottage in Cullen and has plans to open a caravan park, shop and takeaway at Glenmor.
Caroline has been a board and committee member of many agricultural and tourism organisations over the years, including Oban Livestock Centre, North Argyll Farmers Market, Argyll Agricultural Forum and Visit Moray Speyside.
In 2006 Caroline was the winner of NFUS Young Achiever of the Year, studying through UHI and graduating with a BSc Rural Development Studies. She was also one of the first set of Monitor Farmers in Scotland.
Caroline enjoys Skiing, Golf, Cooking and being a grandmother to 5 wonderful grandchildren in her spare time. She is delighted to be a Destination Leader for Highland and really looks forward to meeting more members and hopes to draw on her many years of experience to provide encouragement and support.